Wall Street pressures Washington to hike debt limit

Ratings agency Moody''s on Thursday threatened to review the United States'' coveted top-notch credit rating if the White House and Congress do not make progress by mid-July in talks to raise the US debt limit. Moody''s Investors Service said entrenched positions on both sides in White House-led deficit talks had increased the odds of a short-lived default by Washington on its obligations.
The warning increases pressure on President Barack Obama and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in the US Congress, to strike a deal soon or risk upsetting global financial markets. US Treasury Timothy Geithner has repeatedly warned of a financial catastrophe if Congress fails to increase the current $14.3 trillion borrowing cap by August 2, when his department will exhaust the extraordinary cash management measures it has been using since reaching the debt limit on May 16.